Alan Belcher MMA Club- Biloxi, MS

Alan Belcher MMA Club

This is the best place I've ever been too, and I've already put up quite a few reviews here for good places, and have traveled around the country and trained in a lot of awesome gyms over the years I've been involved with MMA. I sincerely believe that in a few years Alan Belcher MMA Club will be a gym name people hear about nationwide. The people here are great, the training is awesome, and Alan is really invested in the school always making improvements, and adding new features! It's nice to finally get to reveiw a school that is able to get close to a perfect score even by Bullshido's high standards. Now I do work here so I might seem a bit bias, but that really isn't effecting my rating. This place rocks.

First before I go into the ratings here is the cons:

This place is huge, but it can get a little crowded during the busy times, when classes end and the training floors poor out and the new classes come in it's hard to just chill in the club (when it's not rush hour it's a different story), but luckily the place will be expanding pretty soon. As an employee this is basically the only complaint I've ever received.

Aliveness- 10

There are a lot of different classes here, and some of them are purely fitness and do no live training, but they are on a seperate schedule. We also have beginner level classes with lighter live training to build people up, but in all of the advanced classes and pro level classes the training is intense, and we build people up to it reasonably fast.

Equipment- 10

When Alan opened up this new facility in early 2011 he went all out! Brand new plate load weight machines, all new fitness equipment, 36' octagon cage (same size the UFC usually uses) big enough to hold large classes in, 3 training floors, 2 private lesson rooms, all armed to the teeth with throwing dummies, twins bags, thai pads, boxing mits, and pretty much anything else you'd need to train an elite UFC fighter :)

Gym Size- 10

The club is currently about 10,000 sq ft, and is working on an expansion. there are 3 huge training floors so the club can hold 3 classes simultaneously, and can also have 2 private lessons in the private lesson rooms. There is an office in the back and an upstairs. Locker rooms for men and women and both are set-up with multiple bathroom stalls and showers.

Atmosphere/Attitude- 10

There are a lot of entire families that train here, and people never want to leave the place. It's pretty awesome to have a badass MMA gym that you can be comfortable bringing your little sister, your mom, and your wife too. It gets a little rowdier in the private training floor when the pros lock the door, but everyone here is like family, and very open and welcoming to new people and training partners.

Instructor/Student Ratio- 9

There are about 30 instructors here now plus some more assistant instructors, but the classes are really big sometimes. There are tons of class times 7 days a week and 3 training floors to make sure classes are never too big.

Striking Instruction- 10

Alan Belcher fights for the UFC and teaches the pro and many of the advanced classes on a variable schedule. The lower level classes are taught by experts with competition success, so the scoring would change with beginner classes. Alan brings in lots of experts from round the world to teach for periods of time also including Manu Ntoh, Duke Roufus, and more.

Grappling Instruction- 10

Alan Belcher teaches the pro and many of the advanced classes on a variable schedule. The lower level classes are taught by experts with competition success, so the scoring would change with beginner classes. Alan brings in lots of experts from round the world to teach for periods of time also including Daniel Moraes, Joao Assis, Davi Ramos, Ben Askren, Joao Zeferino, and more.

Fitness Instruction- 10

There is a kickass fitness team here for strength and conditioning that not only helps Alan get all the way down to 185 for fights, but also gets a lot of people not interested in martial arts training. So if you have a girlfriend that complains you spend no time together because you train too much this is a nice solution!

Weapons Instruction- 6

This is where I feel the club could use some improvement. There is some stick fighting training, and use of mace, guns and disarms built into the self defense programs, but I think there should be a bit more and there should be some higher level training available for it. There are also seminars and special events from time to time that focus on weapons more, but in the actual schedule it's a little light right now. With that said Alan is always adding new stuff, so helpfully this will get a better rating soon.

This class combines the fighting skills of the most advanced form hand to hand combat with situations and basic weapons found in the street and other common self-defense situations. This is the class we recommend everyone new starts out in because it gives you a taste of basically all the other programs we offer and prepares you to use what you learn in a dangerous street situation where there are no rules and you need to do whatever it takes! This class shows techniques from Gracie lineage Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Judo, Tang Soo Do, Boxing, Karate, Parkour, Tae Kwon Do, Hayastan Grappling, Kali, Savate, Arnis, Kickboxing, Krav Maga, and of course Alan's style of MMA.

Jr. Mixed Martial Arts for Self-Defense

This class is much more "traditional" than most Mixed Martial Arts programs, and actually has a heavier presence of the traditional martial arts than our adult version. There is alos an amazing built in Character Development program, and school grades reward system! This class shows techniques from Gracie lineage Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Judo, Tang Soo Do, Boxing, Karate, Parkour, Tae Kwon Do, Hayastan Grappling, Kali, Savate, Arnis, Kickboxing, Krav Maga, and of course Alan's style of MMA. We also teach how to handle bullies, strangers, and other dangers with verbal defense and physical-defense if absolutely necessary.

Combat Fit

Combat fit is a high intensity interval training routing that includes use of weights, medicine balls, throwing dummies, heavy bags, ground and pound bads, barbells, dumbells, kettlebells, padwork, and more. This is the ultimate MMA workout for anyone that wants to get in shape, learn how to strike correct and hold positions, but doesn't want to do anything that requires contact with another person. This class is also a good supplament for people that want to be competitive fighters or grapplers and need to get and stay in tip top shape.

Kids-Fit

This is basically a combat fit class tailored for kids and young teens. It does not use as much resistance training and adds in a lot more games to make the whole workout a ton of fun for everyone. This is a great class for kids not interested in martial arts or having a lot contact with other kids, but it's also mandatory as a supplemental class for all the kids who compete to make sure they're at the top of their game!

Muay Thai

This is our most popular striking classes and covers all aspects of stand-up fighting including takedowns and defense. This is a real full on muay thai program, not just muay thai for MMA. We do mauy thai for MMA in MMA class.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

This is our most popular grappling art and includes all aspects of grappling including gi and no-gi. This is a full on competitive Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Program, not just jiu-jitsu for MMA. We do that in MMA class.

Boxing

This is a full on boxing program, not a watered down boxing for MMA class. We do that in MMA class.

Judo

Full Judo program. we actually do gi and no-gi judo, but mostly gi for judo.

Wrestling

This is a full and legitimate wrestling program. most of the local high school wrestlers train here, especially in the off season. We do wrestling for MMA in the MMA class.

Women's Self-Defense

This is an all female class with all female instructors. This class is heavily based on Gracie lineage Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, aka Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. There are many weapon defenses, and situations added in from other martial arts, but the ranking is based on the gracie Jiu-Jitsu belkt system and this class is trained in the gi to represent street clothing that can be used to help gain leverage on a much larger and stronger attacker.

iLoveKickboxing

This is a kickboxing class with a heavy focus on fitness. Proper technique is taught and you do pad-work with the instructor and work on the bags, but there is no sparring or partner drills, and the focus is on toning up and burning fat.

Advanced MMA

This is where fighters are forged, and also take people from the self-defense class to a whole new level of skill and confidence. This takes BJJ, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Judo, Boxing, and more and shows you how to best utilize it in the cage, and put it all together.

Advanced Jr. MMA

This is where the Jr. MMA class takes it to the next level. Kids can prepare for sparring and other competitions here also.

Jr. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu- The Alan Belcher Chaos Kids

This is an advanced grappling class for kids ho love grappling and often like to compete. There is a lot of BJJ and grappling in the MMA program, but this is a full Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu progam offered for kids.

Professional Level Classes

Alan Belcher MMA Club has professional level classes for MMA, Striking, and Grappling available on invite once a student has reached an expert level in the given area.

Lil' Ninjas

Like the Jr. MMA class, but tailored for 4-6 year olds.

Tiny Talents!

This is a new program developed for 2-3 years olds to get into a fun activity early on.

Parkour

Coming soon!

FACT- Eddie Bravo invented the triangle choke when he used it to tap out helio gracie at an ac/dc concert.

Thanks guys! The club is definitely great, but like Mike said it's always improving. Feel free to stop by and visit if you ever make it to Biloxi!

Originally Posted by Urbanassassin

wow, that school looks completely amazing! Please start up some of them in arkansas/texas somewhere!

but how they actually train 2-3 year olds, I will probably never understand

The 2-3 year olds class isn't like a regular martial arts class. It's martial arts activities and the parents get to jump in too. This helps develop balance, coordination, and listening skills that will give them a headstart when they graduate and become "Lil' Ninjas". Here is a video of my daughter doing her first class:

You really can't beat what you get from Alan Belcher's school. There is a ridiculous amount of mat space, the cage is UFC regulation size, the weight area has awesome equipment, and it doesn't smell like a gym!! Alan took a lot time and planning to make this into what has become a huge gym here on the Mississippi coast. Family friendly and well instructed!!